The most important job in any house painting project is to prepare the surface.

There's often sanding, scrubbing, filling in, and scraping off.

Because if you don't do this right, the paint won't stick. 

This Sunday we'll meet John, the Baptist, and a quote from the prophet Isaiah about valleys being filled in and mountains being made low. 

John's job, of course, is to prepare the surface, the canvas, the landscape for the message of Jesus, so that it will stick. 

John is concerned with setting the stage, making it most conducive for people to absorb the message of Jesus.

And this begs the question from you and me, what are the conditions, what's the canvas and landscape of our lives, and how are we making it conducive to absorbing the message of Jesus? 

In other words, what do we need to do to prepare ourselves so that the message sticks? 

What needs to be sanded, scraped, scrubbed , or filled in? 

The temptation is to get so caught up in our holiday shopping, cooking, cleaning, in preparation, that we lose the opportunity to use the holiday like we could: 

As a chance to draw closer to Jesus, listening for his voice, using free time for devotion, self-reflection, and service to others. 

What do we need to do to make the paint stick?